Did Anything About That Seem Odd?
by laolurve
Summary: Just a goofy little scene in the squad room between Alex/Olivia, the rest of the squad, and a box of donuts.  UPDATED WEDNESDAY 4/6:  Chapter THREE - a bump in the road?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:**

Not drabbles (*gasp*). Just a short little interlude that popped into my head.

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><p><strong>Did Anything About That Seem Odd?<strong>

When Olivia had gotten the call at 1:00 am to respond to a scene, Alex had awakened only long enough to acknowledge that Olivia was leaving and to implore the detective to remain safe. She awoke again at 6:00, this time for good, when the phone range. The case was moving fast, Elliot and Olivia already had grounds for a warrant and needed one fast before the boyfriend had time to cover anything up.

At 6:20 a phone call of her own woke up a judge. She related to his honor the same information Olivia had related to her and obtained a promise that he would meet her at the courthouse in 45 minutes to sign off on it.

Back in the squad room, the tell tale click clack of heels signaled the arrival of not only their ADA, but the promised warrant. Hearing the sound, Elliot rose from his chair and grabbed his coat. Olivia also rose but was tethered to her desk by the phone, still getting last minute information from the lab as she clipped her badge on and holstered her gun.

Alex came around the corner. One would think the detectives would be most excited about and interested in the folded blue paper tucked in her own jacket pocket, but, in fact, they were actually most excited about and interested in the hot cups of coffee that were in a tray in one hand and the box of donuts that were in her other. At least that's what it seemed.

Elliot immediately opened the box of donuts, picking out a plump glazed one, then quickly relieved the attorney of one of the cups of coffee in the tray, muttering a heartfelt, "Counselor, you have no idea how much I love you right now," as he took a bite of the donut and downed it with a sip of coffee.

Alex flicked her eyes over to the male detective's partner, noting the bags under her eyes, the rumpled shirt, the unruly hair, but also the set of her jaw, the tension in her shoulders, the determination in her stance. Concern and admiration, worry and pride warred briefly within her before she dragged her attention back to Elliot, "Well, I shouldn't encourage this kind of sugar and caffeine diet, but I know, um, I suspect, that is, that neither of you got much sleep last night so..." Alex finished with a shrug, casting an eye over towards Munch and Fin who had walked into the squad room a moment ago, hoping they hadn't noticed or at least wouldn't question how she would know how much or how little sleep the detectives might have gotten.

Elliot was just about to respond when Olivia slammed down the phone and turned towards her partner and Alex, "Got the warrant?" she asked, all business.

"Yep! And joe and I think I saw a jelly filled in there," Elliot answered for Alex around another bite of his own breakfast.

Olivia's eyes widened slightly, "Alex, you have no idea how much I love you right now," she unknowingly repeated her partner's words, seemingly innocently.

And though they were the same words, the meaning was different considering the source and Alex wasn't sure what to say so she just silently handed the warrant to Elliot after Olivia took the other coffee and as the detective picked a jelly filled donut, indeed a favorite of Olivia's, out of the box.

Olivia brought the donut to her mouth and took a bite, moaning slightly and eyes fluttering shut briefly at the taste before reopening her eyes and looking at her partner, "Ready then?" she spoke with her mouthful.

Elliot nodded, holding the warrant up as proof.

Then, without thinking, without thinking at all, her brain slowed by lack of sleep, her thoughts focused on the upcoming search, Olivia leaned in and gave Alex a kiss on the cheek, "Thanks, babe, we'll call when we're done."

Olivia seemed to realize just about then what she'd done as she looked into the deer-in-the-headlights face of her lover. Of her secret lover. At least it had been a secret up until that moment, a secret to everyone but Elliot.

And Elliot, bless him, tried to cover for his partner's slip up. He awkwardly also leaned in and gave Alex a peck on the cheek, "Uh...yeah, uh, babe, thanks," he said quickly then grabbed his partner's elbow and dragged her out of the squad room before she could say or do anything else.

Leaving Alex standing by herself in the middle of the squad room with Munch and Fin looking at her rather curiously. She turned slowly toward them and gave them a forced smile. "Donut?" she offered lamely.

Munch dragged himself dramatically from his chair and walked two steps toward Alex, looking her in the eye before looking critically into the box of donuts. He gingerly picked one out then looked back at Alex. "Thanks, babe," he emphasized the nickname as he started to lean in to also give her a kiss on the cheek.

Alex put her hand on his chest and took a step back, rolling her eyes. Leave it to Munch to break the tension, "Not on your life, detective."

Munch was not at all offended, popping the donut in his mouth, "Can't blame a guy for trying," he shrugged. Fin just shook his head.

Alex smiled genuinely at him, before simply putting the rest of the donuts down on his desk. She then just swallowed and smoothed her hands down the front of her coat, not at all sure what to say. "Well then," she finally settled on, "Good day, detectives." And with that she exited stage left with as much composure as she could muster.

Fin and Munch watched her go in silence. When her heels were no longer audible, Munch turned to Fin, "Did anything about that whole thing seem odd to you?" he mused.

"Like what?" Fin played dumb.

"Oh, I don't know, like Elliot confessing his love, then Olivia confessing her love, then Olivia kissing our esteemed ADA, then Elliot kissing our esteemed ADA, then our esteemed ADA not letting me kiss her?"

Fin was silent for a moment then answered, "When you put it that way, everything but that last part did seem odd, yes."

Munch gave him a dirty look then looked thoughtfully at the door Alex had exited through. He turned back to his partner, "How long do you suppose we should let the three of them go on thinking they're the only ones who know?"

Fin shrugged, "As long as it stays this entertaining and as long as Alex keeps bringing us donuts," Fin smiled and reached in to the box to grab the last remaining disk of cooked dough and sugar.

Munch raised and eyebrow, considering his partner's statement. "Agreed," he finally said, and they tapped their donuts together in a pretend-toast.


	2. Chapter 2

HA! I wrote some more! I guess this is a second chapter! I NEVER write second chapters! Go me! lol

In any case, here goes. Just another fun (I hope) little interlude.

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><p><strong>Did Anything About That Seem Odd?<br>Chapter 2  
><strong>

It was more than six hours later that Elliot and Olivia dragged themselves back to the squad room, having conducted a thorough search of the man's home, office, garage, and tree house. Yes, tree house. That really should have been the first clue that there was something not quite right with the guy. Then it was to the lab to drop off bags of evidence and to evidence lockup to drop off the rest of it.

They'd found enough to nail the guy, but he'd flown the coup. An APB was out for the vehicle he owned and an arrest warrant was issued, as well.

Running on fumes and whatever was left over from the donut and coffee Alex had brought them earlier, the two detectives took off their coats and just tried to mentally regroup.

That's when they heard that tell tale click clack of heels again. But the approach of those heels stopped short of the squad room, the creaking of a door indicating the wearer of them had probably entered the ladies room. It wasn't certain that it was Alex, but that was the most likely possibility. Olivia cast her eyes about, and then as nonchalantly as she could, rose from her desk chair and headed to the bathroom herself.

She pushed the door open and was happy and relieved to find that, yes, it had been Alex. She let out a tired exhale and let her shoulders slump back against the door that had just shut behind her.

"We're alone," Alex informed her simply, the attorney having already checked the stalls. She then approached Olivia and laid a hand on her cheek, rubbing her thumb over it lightly, "You look tired," she observed, compassion in her voice.

Olivia let her eyes close and let her head fall back against the door, "I am." But she allowed herself only a moment before reopening them and straightening slightly and smiling at Alex, "But I'm glad to see you."

Alex smiled back, "Well, since we left it a little awkwardly this morning, I figured I'd come back and see how you were hanging in there."

Olivia let out a brief chuckle over the memory of that morning and ran a hand through her hair, "Yeah, sorry about that. Not my smoothest move ever." She looked up to meet Alex's eyes, "Did Munch or Fin say anything after I left? Do you think they suspect?"

Alex shrugged, "I'm not sure. John called me 'babe' and tried to kiss me," Alex held her hand up to silence Olivia's knee jerk reaction then continued, "Don't worry, Liv, it was all good natured, and no, I didn't let him."

"I'm still going to kill him," Olivia muttered.

Alex just smiled, knowing Olivia really wasn't that mad at John, but rather mad at herself for almost giving away their relationship in the first place. So she just related the rest of the detectives' reactions, "Then he ate his donut and I excused myself. They both seemed a little confused and curious, but no, I don't think..." Alex trailed off, considering and thinking about the pair before shaking her head, "No I don't think they suspect anything."

Olivia gave Alex a long look. The attorney sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that notion rather than simply stating a fact she already believed. But, what was done was done and there wasn't much they could do to change the past. "I guess we really just have to be more careful."

Alex inhaled deeply and nodded, "Yes. They are detectives, after all. They'll eventually catch on if we're not."

Olivia nodded, then took a breath. "Speaking of which," she began, "I better get back out there before they start to wonder," Olivia smiled a little ruefully at Alex, for she'd really rather not have to go back to work.

"Right," Alex agreed, equally as ruefully.

But before exiting, Olivia stepped forward towards Alex and lifted her hand, reaching it around Alex's neck so she could bring the blonde in for a kiss, a short one, but a better one than the quick peck she'd laid on Alex's cheek that morning, figuring the relative privacy of the bathroom would allow it.

And their lips were just about to meet when a change in the air told Olivia the door behind her was swinging open and swinging open fast. "Liv?" Fin's voice broke through the momentary calm of the bathroom and his head popped around the door.

"Fin!" Olivia pulled her hand back quickly and whipped her head around, eyes probably wider and more panicked than she wished they were, "What are you doing in here?"

Fin desperately wanted to retort, "The real question is what are *you* doing in here?" but he resisted, responding simply, "There's been a development." He kept his face neutral despite the compromising position he'd briefly found the two women in, but couldn't keep his eyes from moving from Olivia to Alex

And that look was enough to panic Olivia just a little more, and in her even more sleep-deprived and slowed brain she decided, somewhat dubiously, that like Elliot earlier, she needed to try to cover and explain away exactly why her hand had been wrapped around Alex's neck. "Oh. Well, we were just on our way out when Alex realized she'd lost an ear ring," she turned back towards Alex and raised her hand again to reach toward Alex's neck again, only this time moving the attorney's blonde hair away from the side of her face and away from her ear.

Alex was desperately trying to figure out what the hell Olivia was thinking when the detective forged on, speaking more and more quickly, "And, um," Olivia began again as she moved out of the way so Fin could see Alex's ear and the blue stone hanging from it, "It looks like this," she pointed hurriedly at Alex's ear before releasing the blonde entirely and going about pointedly looking around on the floor for the so called lost earring.

Finally realizing Olivia's ruse, Alex's hand flew up to her other ear, covering the twin blue stone hanging from it and adding to this little deception, "Yes, yes, and they're one of my favorite pair," she mumbled as she, too, began looking pointedly around.

"Ohhhhkay," Fin replied, watching the two women desperately scanning the floor, Alex still holding and covering her one ear. "But you might want to cut the search short, a cruiser stopped the suspect trying to leave the city. They'll be here in about 15 minutes."

Olivia looked up, unable to hide her annoyance that they still had lots of time and still fueled by a little nervousness, "And that information couldn't wait a few minutes?"

Again, Fin desperately wanted to retort again, this time with a, "The real question is *you two* couldn't wait?" I mean, they were just making it too easy. But he fought to remain neutral. "Hey, sorry, we thought you'd want to know as soon as we did."

Olivia just exhaled loudly.

"Right," Fin said then backed up like he was going to leave. But before he did he decided to have just a little bit of fun. He reached forward towards Alex's face, noticing the attorney's attempt to remain still and not react. He then pushed back her hair like Olivia had and looked briefly at the dangling stone before pulling back and addressing the attorney, who *still* hadn't let go of her other ear, "I'll keep an eye out for that ear ring," he said.

Alex smiled tightly at him and Olivia clenched her jaw as he turned and left. Damn, but they were too funny, he smiled and thought to himself as he did so.

As soon as he was gone, both women exhaled and Alex finally dropped her hand. Olivia ran her hand over her face, "Shit."

"My thoughts exactly," Alex muttered, shaking her head, as she leaned back against one of the sinks.

"Do you think he bought the ear ring story?" Olivia looked over at her hopefully.

She just shook her head, "Tough to know."

Olivia nodded in agreement but the nod turned into a shake of her head as she said, "Man, we *really* need to be more careful."

It was Alex's turn to nod in agreement.

Olivia looked over at the blonde and desperately wanted to give her a kiss or a hug or *something* but she just didn't dare. She shook her head again and looked away. "I guess we better get out there, then," she said.

"Yes, we should," Alex started heading towards the door which Olivia had started opening.

Despite knowing she didn't have to, that leaving the bathroom was not exactly something one needed to be covert about, Olivia couldn't help but poke her head out and look up and down the hall to make sure it was empty before exiting. The door was just swinging shut behind them when something occurred to Olivia and she whispered hurriedly and with a touch of panic once again, "You better actually take that other ear ring out and hide it!"

"Shit," Alex swore this time, as her hand flew up to her ear again to quickly undo the hook and remove the jewelry, slipping it into her briefcase just as the two women rounded the corner back into the squad room, managing to put air of confidence about themselves, and both thinking they were being so clever.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3. BTW, just so you know, I had no intention of this going further than the first chapter, and I have no idea where it's going, but it keeps coming at me in little chunks so I'll keep writing it down, I guess. :)

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><p><strong>Did Anything About That Seem Odd?<strong>  
><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

When they brought the suspect in, the uniformed officer said that the scumbag had offered up a flimsy alibi at first but then had mostly whined about wanting his daddy. The detectives barely contained rolling their eyes at the 23-year-old suspect before throwing him into the interrogation room.

They were going to go with good-cop-bad-cop but neither Olivia nor Elliot was in the mood to play the role of the good-cop so they went with their backup plan: bad-cop-bad-cop. Both detectives were well into their shtick, getting up into the perp's face, laying out the evidence they had against him and pointing out that they had already caught him in one lie, when they heard a sharp rap on the interrogation room window.

They managed to hide their annoyance from the perp, but when they got out into the observation room, they didn't hold back, "Why'd you pull us out of there? He was about to give it up!" Elliot directed his statement at Captain Cragen.

But Alex interjected, "He didn't pull you out of there, I did."

Both detectives turned their attention to the attorney, "Well, then why'd *you* pull us out of there, Alex?" Olivia was the one who asked this time.

Alex held up the file she was holding, "I've been going through this as you interviewed Mr. Johnson," Alex indicated the suspect with a tilt of her head then brought her attention back to Elliot and Olivia, "and it says here your suspect's father is a patent attorney."

All three fell silent for a moment. Finally Olivia spoke again. "And?"

Alex remained calm in the face of Olivia's obviously rising annoyance level, "And the arresting officer stated that he had 'whined for his daddy'," Alex stated.

Elliot didn't even bother trying to contain the rolling of his eyes this time and Olivia's eyes just got wider and she took a step towards Alex, "And what? You're taking that to mean he was asking for a lawyer? Alex, he's a PATENT attorney, not a criminal lawyer! Besides, he asked for his dad, not counsel! It's not the same thing!"

Alex's eyes narrowed, latching on to something in the way Olivia had responded. "Wait…are you saying you *knew* the father was an attorney?"

Olivia was silent. Alex took that to mean the answer was yes. "You knew he was an attorney but ignored it," Alex was shaking her head, "Do you have ANY idea how many of this guy's rights you just violated?"

Olivia wasn't backing down, "He didn't ask for counsel and since he's over 18 he's not entitled to a parent or guardian. So, um, none."

"Wrong," Alex shot back.

"I'm not wrong. He did not ask for counsel. He waived. It's your job, Alex," Olivia almost sneered the name, "with your fancy law books and case law to make sure that sticks. Our job, on the other hand, is to get information and we were about to get just that when you pulled us out!"

"Information is no good unless we can actually use it, Olivia," Alex put emphasis on the detective's name just as Liv had done on hers. "And if I had let you go any further, you not only would have nothing I could use, but in addition I would have been spending my time taking care to keep you *out* of trouble with the courts rather than getting Mr. Johnson's *in* trouble with them."

"Oh, so you don't think I'm capable of 'taking care' of self, Counselor?" Olivia spit out between clenched teeth, the two women, who had been inching closer and closer, were almost nose to nose by this point.

"Apparently not, Detective," Alex spit back before she had time to stop herself.

Olivia glared at Alex and shifted her jaw back and forth, desperately reigning in her emotions, dangerously close to saying something that not only couldn't be explained away, but something she'd truly regret. Finally she just looked away and shook her head. "Whatever," she muttered before turning on a heel and leaving the observation room.

Alex wasn't happy with leaving it that way, but had recognized they were on the verge of getting personal and that just wouldn't do. So she was almost relieved to see Olivia go, believing the immediate crisis was over. But in Olivia's wake, Elliot took one step towards Alex, pinning the attorney with a hard stare and without thinking, after all, he was running on very little sleep, as well, said to her snidely, "Guess you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight. Deservedly so."

As soon as the words left his mouth he realized his error, and if he hadn't he certainly would have by the widening of Alex's eyes, not exactly an expression of shock but more of a combination of "WTF?", "oh, son-of-a-bitch!", and "Et tu, Brute?".

The only hope was that Elliot, in trying to be menacing and intimidating (two things he really just wasn't to Alex but he still tried), he had said what he said quietly enough that the captain maybe hadn't heard.

And, turns out, the Captain might not have heard. But John, who had been standing at the entrance to the observation room for who the hell knows how long, certainly had. And, as before, leave it to John to butt in and break the tension, "Ooooo, sleeping on the couch, this sound juicy! Pray tell, who's couch and why?" He already knew the answer to both questions but was dying to know what answer Alex would come up with.

Shooting a look of daggers at Elliot for having to come up with any answer at all, Alex turned her attention back to Munch. She jutted her chin out slightly and crossed her arms, "I believe Elliot was referring to the fact that I'll be spending the night on my office couch researching relevant case law so we can try to keep in evidence everything the suspect stated so far while in custody here, as well as researching case law regarding whether anything said to the arresting officer-who did not know the suspect's father was an attorney-can be kept in evidence, including the false alibi he provided."

Munch mentally noted that that excuse wouldn't have her *sleeping* on the couch so didn't completely address Elliot's statement. However, despite that, he had to admit that given that it was spur of the moment, it was a pretty good excuse and a pretty good explanation nevertheless. Well played, Counselor, well played was what he was thinking, but what he said was, "Ahhh, once more unto the murky waters of Miranda."

Alex tried to hide her relief that Munch seemed to have bought her explanation, jutting her chin out a little more, "Most defense attorneys would say those waters aren't all that murky."

Munch smiled, "Well, then thankfully The People have you to stir things up."

Alex narrowed her eyes slightly at John. His graciousness, while appreciated, was a little out of character for him. She finally just dismissed the thought and nodded, "Right." She looked at her watch. "Well, that case law isn't going to study itself." She nodded at Cragen who had really just kept his head down the whole time, gave Munch a small smile, and shot Elliot one more death look for good measure then left the room.

She desperately wanted to seek out Olivia and talk things through. But she couldn't afford to take that risk right now. She'd have to call her in a while when the detective had calmed down some.


End file.
